Associates Degree in Interior Design

Whether you want to learn interior design as a hobby or as a profession getting a degree is great resource in your pocket. The skills you learn in interior design will range from selecting effective colors for rooms, to learning how to properly light a room to how to create a focal point. Interior design is a growing field, years ago many schools thought that interior design was going to phase out as a fade education so they dropped their programs. Today though schools are realizing interior design is here to stay and its history is only getting longer and more intriguing. That means that there are many online schools and local community colleges that are picking the program back up. As with anything online though you want to be careful what you dish your money out for. Below are some criteria that will help you find an interior design school that is legit and worth using.

If you can find a school that is accredited then you can rest with assurance that your bachelors or associates in Interior Design is going to be a good one. Not all schools are accredited but when they are it is a real testament to their quality.
Accreditation is a stamp of approval of sorts for a school offering associated in interior design. A third party evaluation company comes into the school and evaluates everything from the curriculum, to the teachers and staff, to the resources offered. The levels to qualify for accreditation are really high and so few schools actually achieve it. A school can reapply for accreditation but it is a scrutinizing process so many schools either don’t bother or don’t re apply. You can get a good education from a school that is not accredited but accreditation is like a safety stamp for your education. The down side to accreditation is that the schools tuition is often higher because of the high level of quality they have a achieved.

Interior design covers a wide range of topics and there are a lot of choices as to what a school could include. Here are the basics that your program should have for the associate degree in interior design to be worth it:

• History – Any program worth its salt will have a section on history. Knowing what has existed in interior design, what styles there are and the history of how they came to be will not make you sound more trustworthy as an interior designer but it will also open up a host of creative ideas.

• Color- Every knows color is important for interior but learning how color works and the effects it has on people will expand your knowledge from looks pretty to truly functional and motivating.
  

• Client Relations – Knowing how to talk with your client and what questions to ask to design the room they are looking for is vitally important. If you are in interior design for more than a hobby then this course can be one of you’re the most profitable courses you take because it trains you how to interact with the person who is holding your salary
• Texture/Pattern – Fabric, textiles, prints, etc can be complicated to work with at first. A good degree in interior design will give you hints and tips that can help you more easily master these powerful tools. Don’t skip this section, there is a lot to learn in an interior design degree on these tools.

Those are just 4 main courses you need and why, additional important ones to note are lighting, sketching and space planning. Ensure your curriculum has these features.

The course you are taking must send you a certificate of some kind to prove that you completed the associates in interior design. You need to be able to show proof that you are trained and educated in the skills necessary to perform interior design. If a school is not willing to provide a good, professional looking certificate at the end of your education then that should be your first flag that they are a waste of money and time. You need to be able to prove your work in your education.